Waking Up the Devil
by Ikorose
Summary: Ichigo takes over his fathers club after his untimely death.  Summary sucks hopelfully the story doesn't.  Rated M for language and adult content. ON HIATUS
1. What You Gonna Do

**Have you ever had a dream that you don't remember but something about it just keeps tickling that back of your mind? That's the feeling I keep getting with this new story. The inspiration for this came from the album All American Nightmare by Hinder**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; its characters, or any of the lyrics. Sucks though.**

**What You Gonna Do by Hinder**

Prologue: What You Gonna Do

**I'm livin life with no regrets they're on their way but ain't here yet, I just left Las Vegas in bad bad shape, I only call home if I get a chance, Every other night a new romance, Wake up in time to miss the day, Now I'm talkin to the man in the mirror, And I think I heard him say**

**What you gonna do, When the whiskey ain't workin no more, Life don't feel like before, What you gonna do, What you gonna do, When the ride ain't climbin no more, Nobodies beatin down your door, What you gonna do**

Ichigo sat in his office looking around at the years of memories trying to drown him. He reached over and pulled the bottle of Jack Daniels, ignoring the empty glass in front of him he tipped the bottle and gulped down the harsh liquid. His entire goal in life at that moment was to get so drunk he either passed out or died from alcohol poisoning. Turning his chair he looked out the two way mirror at the club floor not really seeing it, his eyes drawn to the dark haired girl behind the bar talking to a busty orange haired customer. The two women turned and looked toward the mirror as if they could tell he was watching them. The dark girl had a familiar scowl on her face that caused him to smile a little sadly; his sister was so much like him. The orange haired woman made him almost want to puke up the bottle of Jack, she looked concerned but he knew that the look was a front. His _girlfriend_ made a move to get up but was stopped by Karin who wore a stormy expression and he could tell his sister was laying into the woman again.

**I'm still closing down these streets, I'm high enough to make believe, That I ain't ever gonna hit the ground, The one that got away from me, Every now and then she calls to see, If I'm alive or plan to settle down, Well I called her drunk last night, And I think I heard her say**

**What you gonna do, When the whiskey ain't workin no more, Life don't feel like before, What you gonna do, What you gonna do, When the ride ain't climbin no more, Nobodies beatin down your door, What you gonna do**

Ichigo leaned back and let his mind drift again, 'Orihime, why did I call her last night?' he thought to himself. She was just another one of the long string of fucked up things that had happened recently. Ichigo had graduated college early and had taken a year off to go to America and study the way they ran their clubs there. He had been there for eight months when he got a call from his sister Yuzu, their father had been killed when the bank he was at got robbed. He had taken the first flight home, thanking god he was in Las Vegas since the west coast of America was closer to Japan it wouldn't take as long to get home. The next month had been a blur of activity Ichigo took care of the funeral arrangements, met with the lawyers about the will and Isshin's assets, took care of his sisters, and fielded all the family and friends that insisted on sticking around. During all of this craziness Ichigo's long time girlfriend had stuck by his side, or so he thought. Ichigo noticed that Orihime was getting sick a lot and that she had started to gain weight. Ichigo wasn't dumb and he had his suspicions about what she had been up to while he had been gone.

It had taken about a month to get all of Isshin's assets turned over to him and his sisters. Ichigo had decided to let them keep the house and the cars; the only thing he wanted was his father's club, the Kurosaki Clinic. Ichigo had called all of the staff in for a meeting to go over the changes in management and to get to know the people that had been hired why he was gone. Orihime had accompanied him to that first staff meeting and that's when he knew his suspicions were well founded.

Ichigo had gone into the office to retrieve the personnel records and stopped to look out at the group through the two way mirror and saw Orihime approach a tall thin dark haired boy that Ichigo vaguely recognized from high school. Orihime wrapped her arms around the man's thin waist and leaned in to kiss him, the man smiled and leaned back after a second placing his hand on the girls abdomen with a side grin. Ichigo thought he was gonna be sick, he was surprised that he didn't feel hurt that she had cheated on him but rather that she had betrayed his trust in her as a friend. He had known the strawberry blond since middle school and had been seeing her since their senior year of high school. With a scowl fixed on his face he returned to the club floor where the dozen or so staff members sat waiting for him. Taking a seat in front of the group he began the long process of establishing himself as the new owner and boss.

"Okay everyone, most of you know me for those that don't I am Kurosaki Ichigo, Isshin's son. While I know that we are all affected deeply by the loose of my father I refuse to let his beloved club close. I am more than capable of running this place, I have worked here since I was 16 and I have a masters in Business Management. If any of you object to working for me I will accept your resignations now." Ichigo paused to let his words sink in and see if anyone would walk out, when no one spoke up he continued, "I have worked with most of you before but there are a lot of new faces here that I am not familiar with, over the next week I will be taking the time to meet with all of you individually to get acquainted or reacquainted with you. The club will open its doors again in two days; I have the schedules here for all of you including your time to meet with me. Does anyone have any questions? No, okay then come get your schedules and those that are meeting with me today stick around." Ichigo handed out the schedules, told the three that were meeting with him to have a drink and reentered his office to get ready to come face to face with the dark haired man.

The first two employees were ones that had worked for his father since the club opened when he was 15, eight years ago. Hirako Shinji and Madarame Ikkaku were both long time friends of his family and their interviews passed quickly and no changes were made to their employment status. Shinji was still in charge of entertainment and Ikkaku still kept his position has head of security. The dark haired man finally entered his office and took a seat; Ichigo glanced at him as he pulled his personnel file. "Hello, your Ishida Uryuu correct." The man nodded pushing his glasses back up his nose. "It says here you were hired by my father six months ago as a floor manager. Your record over the past six months leaves something to be desired," Ichigo said looking at the papers in front of him. He had decided that he would deal with this man on a strictly professional level, he couldn't afford for his personal feeling to affect the club. However the man was a piss poor manager and there was an abundance of documented evidence to support the claim. "I have never worked with you so I will give you the benefit of the doubt, you have one month to prove to me that you can do this job competently or you will be demoted or possibly let go."

Uryuu stared at his high school class mate with a slightly shocked expression. "I wasn't aware that Isshin felt that I wasn't performing to standard. Would you mind telling me what he felt my short comings were so that I may improve upon them?"

"According to your file it says that you have poor people skills, are easily distracted by friends that come by, and are unable to deal with violence on the floor without involving the head of security. As the floor manager you should be able to defuse any volatile situations that arise without relying on Ikkaku and his staff. If you have friends coming into the club that's fine but you need to do your job, if they are too much of a distraction I will either ban them or fire you. People skills are gonna be a hard one for you, I remember you from high school, and you have always been a quiet person that didn't deal with people if you didn't have to. Which makes me wonder why you are working in a club as a manager?"

"My father thought that it would be a good growing experience, he used his friendship with Isshin to help me get an interview and your father hired me. I am still in college so the hours are good for me and Isshin allowed me to work on my assignments here during my breaks and slow times."

"Ok, fair enough. One month Uryuu, show me that you can do the job or you won't have it anymore. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes sir."

Ichigo left the club and drove Orihime home, not saying anything to the perplexed girl. He was too tired to deal with the situation at the moment. "I'm tired; I'm going home to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow." Orihime nodded and when she tried to kiss him he turned his head so she kissed his cheek. She frowned as she got out of the car, did he already know? She had to call Uryuu and find out how their meeting went.

**I can't sleep and I can't hide, Cause the voices inside my head, Are getting louder getting louder every night**

**I'm livin life with no regrets, They're on their way, But ain't here yet**

**What you gonna do, When the whiskey ain't workin no more, Life don't feel like before, What you gonna do, What you gonna do, When the ride ain't climbin no more, Nobodies beatin down your door, What you gonna do**

**What you gonna do, When the whiskey ain't workin no more, Life don't feel like before, What you gonna do, What you gonna do, When the ride ain't climbin no more, Nobodies beatin down your door, What you gonna do**

It had been a few weeks since that staff meeting and Ichigo saw no improvement in his floor manager. He did however notice that the distraction that had been noted in his file was limited to Orihime. She was shameless in her flirting with the man and they both seemed clueless to the other members of the staff giving them death glares. Ichigo had taken to drinking whiskey on nights when his emotions got the better of him, locking himself in the office and letting Ikkaku and Shinji run things. Neither man ever said anything about it, they both knew that Ichigo was hurting bad over the loss of his father and the betrayal of his girlfriend. What neither one of them could understand was how he was still with the girl. Only Karin knew the story, Ichigo would not break up with her until after Uryuu's month trial period was over to ensure that there wasn't any appearance of personal agenda involved. Karin had started working there a few days ago, she bartended part time to help out and to get away from it all. The customers loved her, she was blunt and crude but she had grown into a drop dead gorgeous woman and had a flair for bartending.

Ichigo groaned as his cell phone rang pulling out of his drunken funk, looking at the id he smiled a little. Flipping it open he thought about how long it had been since he had seen his old friend.

"Hey," he slurred.

"Are you drunk?"

"Well nice to hear from you too, asshole. What's up?"

"I'm back in town. Me, Grimm, and Uli got in last night and we wanna come see you. You at the club?"

"Yeah, come on by. I'm in the office when you get here ask for Ikkaku at the door he'll bring you up."

"Cool see you soon, oh and berry, sober up or I'm gonna let Grimm pound you into the ground."

"Fuck off, see you soon." Ichigo smiled as he dialed Ikkaku. After a few rings the man's voice finally came across the line sounding very put out.

"Hey Ichi what's up?"

Ichigo frowned and looked through the mirror again finding Ikkaku standing with Uryuu and two very pissed off looking customers. "Hey what's the deal down there?"

"I got it handled boss no worries," Ikkaku drawled in a slightly strained voice.

"If you say so, I've got some old friends comin by. I told them to ask for you at the door so you can bring them up. You can give me the full story when you do." Ichigo hung up without waiting for an answer from the bald man. Leaning back again he watched the scene as Ikkaku diffused what was probably a less than volatile situation. He got up and unlocked his door and called his sister at the bar, asking her to bring up a large black coffee and a bottle of water when she got a chance.


	2. Red Tail Lights

**A/N: I'm not going to put all of the lyrics for the songs that inspired each chapter in, the chapter title is the song title and again the album is Hinder's All American Nightmare**

Chapter 1-Red Tail Lights

Ichigo woke with another hangover, groaning he rolled over and smacked the annoying alarm clock. He dragged himself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to take a shower and try to clear his head. As the hot water rolled down his body he felt his tension melt away. He thought back to the past two weeks and smiled to himself. Two weeks ago his oldest friends had returned from Europe where they had been touring with an amateur band competition, he had spent almost every night with them either at the club or at his condo. Last night they had joined him at the club and they had proceeded to get shit faced drunk and reminisce about old times.

_Last night_

_Ichigo looked at the three men sitting at the VIP table with him and couldn't help but feel like a weight had been lifted from his chest. These three men were as close to family as you could get without being related and they were exactly what he had needed to help him move on. _

_Two weeks ago_

_Two weeks ago when they had shown up on their first night back he got an earful from his best friend, Coyote Starrk. Karin had seen them come in with Ikkaku and stopped them telling the tall brown haired man that she was worried about her brother, he had taken to locking himself in the office and getting drunk almost every night. Starrk had promised her that they would help the devastated boy._

"_Oi, Ichigo what is this I hear? You an alcoholic now?" Starrk demanded as he walked through the door._

_Ichigo flinched at his best friends tone and gave the man a sheepish look. Turning to Ikkaku he addressed the bald man first, "So what the fuck was that about down there?"_

"_Che, that boy is about as useless as a screen door on a submarine. Those two idiots were drunk and harassing the girls. Rangiku and Nel asked Uryuu to get rid of them but he doesn't have the right temperament to handle this job. When the guys started in on your sister I figured I better step in before she sent them to the hospital."_

"_Ok, thank you. Go ahead back to the floor and make sure he doesn't cause me to get shut down." Ikkaku nodded and left the office. Ichigo turned to his friends and waited for the reaming he was sure to get. _

"_Ichigo, what the fuck is going on?" growled the hulking blue haired man standing to the side of his desk making Ichigo flinch slightly._

"_Grimmjow there is a lot going on that I don't want to deal with right now."_

"_So what? You bury your problems in the bottom of a bottle? That's not like you." The bluenette demanded._

"_Ichi, talk to us, what is going on?" asked a softer almost emotionless voice._

_Ichigo looked into the deep emerald eyes of his close friend Ulquiorra and sighed, he could never deny these three anything even if it meant bearing his soul and allowing himself to feel the pain he was trying to hide._

"_I'm hurtin' pretty bad. I still can't grasp that dad is gone, every time I look at the girls, walk into the house, or even walk in here it hits me all over again. I don't even have Orihime to lean on to help me through it." The three looked at him in confusion at the last statement. _

"_You and Hime split?" asked Starrk._

"_No not yet. She's cheating on me, with the floor manager. To top that fiasco off she's pregnant. I can't break up with her yet because I already put her new man on probation for failure to perform his job. Pop has a file full of his shortcomings. If I break up with her and then have to fire him it's gonna look like I fired him because of her. So I've been an ass to her and he's on his way to getting fired."_

_After the conversation the three men had scoured his office and removed every drop of alcohol they found and made him swear that he would stop drinking._

_Last night_

_As Ichigo looked at the trio acting like fools he couldn't help but laugh at their antics. Starrk had agreed to let him drink with them tonight so he was already half way to being three sheets as he listened to Grimmjow talk about this chick he had hooked up with on tour. "She was a riot at first but then she turned into a possessive stalker bitch! Nel called me one night and Mila Rose answered my phone she went off on Nel and had her in tears. When I came out of the bathroom and saw her with my phone I grabbed it and heard Nel crying, I kinda lost it and threw her out of my room. She has been calling and following me ever since, I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up here."_

_Ichigo laughed, "If she does just turn Nel and the girls loose on her. You know Karin will gladly kick her ass for fuckin with Nel."_

"_Yeah I know, if she shows up I'll leave it up to Nel what she wants to do about her." They all found that to be hilarious, Grimmjow's sister Nel was the sweetest girl in the world. She was a pacifist by nature but if provoked enough she would fuck someone up bad. _

_A little while later Ichigo had excused himself to check on the club and Starrk had disappeared only moments later mumbling something about stupid whores._

Ichigo smiled as he got out of the shower and got ready for the day, he had a staff meeting and a floor manager to fire. Uryuu had made no noticeable improvement in his ability to handle his job, Ichigo had actually talked to the man's father earlier yesterday to explain that he tried to honor his father's agreement with the man but it was bad for his business. Ryuuken, Uryuu's father was surprisingly ok with the situation. He said he was surprised that Isshin had kept him as long as he had and that I hadn't fired him in the first week.

As Ichigo pulled into the parking lot of the club he noticed Orihime standing next to her car, it looked like she was waiting for someone. As Ichigo got out of his car the woman approached him and asked if they could talk.

"Orihime, I'd love to sit and talk with you but I have a meeting to get to. Come inside and wait for me."

As they entered the club the orange haired woman received a few odd looks and more than a few malevolent ones. Ichigo smirked at his employee's reaction to the woman but puts it aside for the time being. "First off I want to say that the first month under new management has gone rather smoothly. I want to thank you all for your continued excellence. Second I have met with Shinji and we are adding a few new things to expand the clubs appeal. We will be hiring a live band and dancers for Friday nights, Renji don't think that you get Friday's off though. As the house DJ you will be in charge of operating the sound booth and covering during breaks. Interviews start tomorrow for bands and dancers will be auditioned once we get a band locked down. We are also adding an additional bartender for the weekends to help with the load. Karin and Toshiro will be screening applicants all this week so bare with us and the new people that are gonna be behind the bar. Also on Wednesday two weeks from now it's all hands on deck we are gonna be painting and doing minor repairs to the place. If you don't have any questions that's all I have for you, have a drink and hang out I am going to be talking to all of you individually again today. It won't take long so sit tight. Shinji you first."

Ichigo called in each employee one at a time and gave them their personal reviews; he had only good things to say to his employees until it came time for Uryuu. Uryuu walked into the office looking nervous, Ichigo quickly hid a smirk. "So Uryuu how do you think that you have done over the course of the last month?"

"I think I have improved but not enough."

"You right it's not enough. Ikkaku and Shinji are still having to bail you out, you still become too easily distracted, and you still can't handle confrontations on the floor. One instance comes to mind, Rangiku and Nel were being harassed by two drunken men and when they came to you for help you didn't do anything about it. Ikkaku had to jump in after the same two men began to harass Karin. I'm sorry Uryuu but I'm gonna have to let you go, I can't keep a manager on staff that can't manage."

"Very well, I understand. I'm sorry." His voice said he was sorry for more than his poor job performance. Ichigo just nodded and waved him out.

He had completely forgotten about Orihime waiting for him until he walked out of his office and found the girl still waiting for him. He sighed and looked at her as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Ichigo, I know that you know what's going on. I can't stay with you because I am pregnant with Uryuu's child."

"I know, I've known since I got back."

"You know it's your fault don't you? You ran off and left me here. I heard the whispers about the girls you were sleeping with in America."

"You really are stupid if you believe that. You know my beliefs when it comes to that shit, if I wanted to fuck around I would have broken up with you first. You were my friend first and foremost and I could never betray our friendship and the trust we had. Leave, go home and be with your man. Stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours. You know a few months ago I might have thought that we could fight for what we had but now I can see that if you believe every word that you heard then I'm better off that your leavin."

Orihime looked down hearted as she walked out, she had expected more than the cold dismissal. Ichigo pulled out his cell phone as he locked up. Dialing a familiar number he waited for his best friend to answer his phone.

"Ello." Came the sleep dulled reply.

"Oi wake up you lazy asshole! Get dressed I'm comin to get you and Lily."

"Mmm, why?"

"Yuzu wants you two to come to dinner and I could use the company, Hime just dumped me!" Ichigo said with a laugh.

"Alright, see you in ten?"

"Yup, be there in ten."

Dinner with his sisters was normally a quiet affair but with Starrk and his sister Lilynette it turned into a noisy riotous scene. Starrk was his usual self; he started to fall asleep as soon as he sat down. Lily yelled and beat him until he forced himself to stay awake while Karin and Yuzu couldn't stop laughing. After dinner Lily decided to stay the night with the girls so Ichigo and Starrk headed out to the club to open for the night.

"Yo Ichigo!" yelled Ikkaku from his spot by the bar, "Uryuu didn't show today."

"I fired him this morning. I need you and Shinji to help run the floor with me tonight."

"You run the floor? No thanks boss, you stay your ass in the office." Shinji piped up joining the conversation. Starrk just raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You know what happens every time we have to call you out here. You can't keep your temper in check when things escalate."

Starrk laughed at this knowing full well Ichigo's temper and lack of control. "Hey Ichi, if you want I'll help out on the floor tonight. It'll give me something to do."

"Sure, sounds good to me. Shinji, Ikkaku you ok with that?"

"Of course, I remember Starrk here from before; I think he will be a fine substitute until we can hire a new manager." Sang out Shinji grabbing Starrk's arm and leading him off explaining what his responsibilities for the night were as Ichigo went to get the registers set up. Tonight looked like it would be a good night.


	3. Everybody's Wrong

Chapter 2-Everybodies Wrong

Ichigo sat in his office again looking out the mirror at the commotion on the floor, Starrk was talking to a tall brown haired young man in a business suit. Orihime's brother of all people was at his club causing a ruckus about his blatant disrespect of his sister. He wondered what he had been told by the girl, no doubt a load of bull. Ichigo hit the intercom triggering Starrk's ear piece, "What's going on down there?"

"Hm, this man wants to come up to see you, apparently to beat your ass for what you did to Orihime. Should I show him out?"

**Sitting here with an empty bottle, Down to my last cigarette, No missed calls and alcohol, I guess that's all that I got left, No one saw what you did to me this time, And a million times before, I look like the devils child, But you're the one who slammed the door**

"No, escort him to my office, either you or Ikkaku needs to stay though."

"Alright boss, I'll bring him up let Ikkaku know to watch the floor for a bit?"

"Alright, will do." Ichigo heaved a heavy sigh and thumbed the com again to let Ikkaku know to watch the floor. Ichigo wasn't surprised that the man had shown up, he'd been expecting it for a few weeks now. It had been two weeks since he and Orihime had went their separate ways, two weeks that Starrk had been subbing as floor manager, and two weeks that he had not felt the weight that sat on him whenever he looked at Uryuu and Orihime. A knock on the door pulled Ichigo out of his musings.

**Everybody thinks they know me, You're the saint and I'm the phony, But you're the one who faked it all along, Everybody sees your crying, Lying looking like your dying, Everybody knows what's going on, But everybody's wrong**

"Come in." he called and watched a very irate Sora enter the office. "Sora to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Stuff it Kurosaki, you know damn well why I am here! How could you do that to my sister? She has been in love with you since middle school! What she finally gives you what you want and accidently gets pregnant and you leave her high and dry? I never took you for a heartless bastard! I told her back then not to mess around with you to find a nice stable man!"

**Ain't I the kinda guy, Your momma told you not to hang around, Sure enough you know, He's gonna break your heart and bring you down, But she never saw you out at midnight, Acting like you own the bar, To me you ain't no angel's child, I know who you are**

"Sora shut up and sit down. You have been sorely misinformed if you think I have anything to do with your sister's currant condition."

"You're denying it!"

"Of course I am. That child belongs to Ishida Uryuu not me, and if you calm down and think about it you would realize that she is about five months along and I've only been back in Japan for a little under four months now."

"She told me that you are the only man she has ever slept with and now you're telling me that she cheated on you?"

**Everybody's wrong about the one who needs, To let it out and just come clean, I've lost it all but I can't be, Your loser anymore**

"Sora, I never slept with your sister. I figured that I was gonna marry her one day so I never saw a reason to rush. I was extremely busy in college, in case you forgot, I did do a four year masters degree in two years and a two year bachelors in fourteen months. After I graduated I left almost immediately for America to research the way they run their clubs and then had to rush back because my father died. So where in there would I have had time to do what you think I did?"

"You say it was Ishida, how do you know?"

"I saw them together in the club, plus a lot of my loyal employee's told me that they have been together for the past seven months."

"Ishida moved last week, his father sent him England to attend medical school."

"When did Orihime come to you and tell you that I am the father?"

"Yesterday, I just couldn't get down here until today. I think I need to go see my sister and get the right story from her. My apologies for the confusion."

"No problem, look if you need to bring her in and I'll help you get the truth out of her."

"We'll see." Sora rose from his chair and nodded t Starrk as he walked out the door.

Ichigo sighed and looked at his friend, "Well that was amusing. Come sit take a five minute break and talk with me."

Starrk smirked as he sat down, "You are to understanding my friend, I would be ready to kill the bitch by now."

"I know, but what can I say? She is in a bad place and she has brought dishonor to her family."

"You are really something, Ichi." Starrk smirked then something Ichigo said came back to him, "Oi, you really never slept with her? You two dated for what like six years or some shit?"

"Yeah I really never slept with her; I never felt the overwhelming desire to. I always figured that one day when I stopped moving at light speed the desire would finally catch up to me."

"So you are a twenty three year virgin?"

"Yup I sure am. Not ashamed of it either, so go ahead and give it to me I know you got jokes."

"Naw, Ichi I can't make fun of you for that, it's your choice. I will say that thank god your body knew what your brain didn't and didn't let your hormones rule your actions. She's a psycho chick and you don't need that. Could you imagine being tied to her for the rest of your life?" Starrk sighed wondering if his friend would ever come to realize that other than Orihime he had never shown interest in women, and with Orihime the relationship seemed more friends that said they were together than actually being together. Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, and Starrk had always suspected that the orange haired man was gay. Starrk had always had a thing for his friend and would love to be the one to help his friend discover the wonderful world on the other side of the rainbow.

"Hey baka, what's with the smirk?" Ichigo asked his friend who was giving him the strangest smirk he had ever seen on the man. Ichigo had to admit that it looked good on the sleepy eyed man. 'Whoa where did that thought come from? Did I really just think that my best friend looked good?' Ichigo thought to himself. That was a new development in his thinking; he had always considered Starrk to be like a brother to him and his sisters.

"Nothing Ichi just had a random thought is all. You know Lily came to me today and asked me if I was planning on sticking around for awhile or if we were going on tour again. I think she missed me when I was gone. I know that she is in good hands when I'm not here but I think she's uncomfortable staying with Zangetsu and Shiro. I know that she loves our Uncle Zan but I think that Shiro is rubbing off on her, she gets more and more violent every time I come back. She said that Zan is teaching Shiro swordsmanship now and that he offered to teach her as well."

"Wow, your uncle and cousin have always been rather strange, I was always surprised that you came out as normal as you did living with those two. So are you back for awhile or are you headin out again?"

""Why Ichi, you gonna miss me if I leave?" Starrk joked, "No we're back for a bit, I actually scheduled with Shinji for the Espada to come and audition to the live band. I think that a steady gig is what we need for awhile. And Lily will be happy to have me around more; she asked me if she can move in with your sisters. They offered to let her move in with them. She's only 16 but I think that it would be good for her to live with girls for a bit. I know your sisters are 18 but I wanted to run it by you first."

"You know I miss you when you're gone, you keep me sane. When do you audition? I want to make sure I'm here to watch, I haven't seen you all play in so long. If the girls want to live together I'm ok with that, but your gonna have to sign some paperwork giving Karin or Yuzu legal guardianship over Lily. Let's make sure this is what they really want at dinner tomorrow and if it is I'll have my lawyer draw up the paperwork. While we're talking about you sticking around for awhile I was wondering if you would like to keep the position as floor manager? You have done a great job and the staff loves you, well Ikkaku complains that you're too lazy but other than that they all love you. And I have to admit that I have really enjoyed having you here."

Starrk's heart skipped a beat; Ichigo liked having him around every day. His signature lazy grin spread across his face "Aw, Ichi how can I refuse when you tell me that you want me." Starrk said watching as a blush spread across Ichigo's cheeks. He had always thought that Ichigo looked delectable when he blushed and he and Grimmjow had made it a point to induce one every chance they got. He couldn't help but wonder what the smaller man would look like flushed for an entirely different reason.

"You've been around Grimmjow and Nnoitra way too long, you're turning into a pervert." Mumbled Ichigo.

"I've always been one Ichi, you just never noticed. Well since I am no longer just filling in I had better get my ass back to the floor, I have a job to do. My boss will have my ass if I don't do my job." Starrk got up and walked out of the door laughing.

Ichigo blushed deeper as he found himself watching said ass on his way out the door. 'It is a very nice ass' he thought to himself. He groaned at his thoughts even as he turned back to the mirrored window to watch Starrk move through the club with a natural grace that Ichigo found enticing to watch.


	4. Hey Ho

Chapter 3-Hey Ho

Ichigo sat at bar with Shinji and Renji watching the bands that had applied for the Friday night spot, so far there were 15 bands to be auditioned over two days. Starrk was in seated at a table a few feet away glaring at the paperwork in front of him making Ichigo laugh.

"Hey, you do know that glaring at it isn't gonna make it go away. Your band is auditioning in an hour why don't you put this stuff behind the bar and after the audition is finished I'll walk you through the most efficient way to complete it. Sit back and enjoy the competition with us for a bit, Grimm and them should be here shortly."

Starrk looked up and gave a small smile as he nodded his head, as he leaned back stretching his arms over his head and moaning as his spine popped and cracked. Ichigo keep from staring at the long well muscled torso that was encased in a skin tight t-shirt that the man wore like a second skin. Ichigo's eye's traveled over the broad chest and down his arms roped with thick corded muscle and covered in tattoos of wolves the same shade of blue-grey as his eyes. Realizing what he was doing he tore his gaze away from the man in front of him and turned back to the stage to watch the next band setting up. Fortunately Starrk didn't notice his stare, unfortunately Shinji and Renji both did. The two men looked at each other in amusement. Shinji had always thought that Ichigo was closeted but until now had no real proof of it. Renji being deep in the closet himself knew that Ichigo hadn't fully realized where his interests truly lye. Before either man could say anything to tease their boss the front doors opened and a man's loud and enraged voice was heard as a large group entered.

Ichigo looked up and fell off his stool laughing as he watched Grimmjow yelling at a rather tall dark skinned woman who was wrapped around him despite his efforts to pry her off. Finally getting himself back under control Ichigo pulled himself up and hollered at the rowdy group.

"Oi shut up assholes, there is another band getting ready to play! If you can't keep it down get the fuck out!" Ichigo watched as Grimmjow's scowl deepened and the woman with him gave him a dirty look.

"Ichi," Grimmjow growled, "Don't even start with me; I am not in the mood!"

Ichigo saw that the man was really in a very foul mood and with the death glares he was sending at the woman Ichigo could guess why. Taking pity on his friend he called out, "Yo Grimm, I need to speak to you come on up to my office." Grimmjow sent a grateful look at his friend and began to extract himself again. As the two men walked toward the office the woman began to follow them Grimmjow noticed and started to growl again. Ichigo looked at the woman and stopped turning to her, with his signature scowl fixed firmly on his face he addressed the woman. "Is there something I can help you with, Ma'am?"

The woman glared at him and drew herself up to her full 5'8" height "I'm going with my Grimmjow not that it concerns you." She sneered.

"Actually, Ma'am," Ichigo smirked at the flinch she gave every time he called her ma'am, "It is my concern, I have business to discuss with Grimmjow and as said business does not include you, you are not welcome to join us."

"Business? What business could a pipsqueak like you have to discuss with a man like Grimmjow? You need to go ahead and go back to the playground." She turned away from Ichigo and addressed Grimmjow again, "So tonight after the auditions we are gonna all go out and party, I figured since it will be one of our bands that gets the job here we should probably come and check this place out." She sounded almost ditsy as she addressed the glaring blue haired man.

Ichigo raised his eyebrow as he watched the woman dismiss him as inconsequential, little did she know. Grimmjow saw the wheels in Ichigo's head turning and smirked at the evil glint behind the soft chocolate brown eyes. Grimmjow looked back at the woman for a second before addressing her, "Mila go have a seat with the guys, Ichigo and I have some things to go over, I'll be back in ten minutes or so." She pouted but finally turned back around leaving them alone. Ichigo already had his phone out texting all of his people telling them not to mention to the woman that he owned the bar, so Grimmjow did the same with the band members.

As they entered the office Ichigo asked "So that's the stalker chick huh?"

"Yup that's her in all of her irritating glory; I can't get rid of her! So what are you gonna do to her?"

"Nothing really, I sent Nel a message letting her know that the chick that pissed her off is here and I figured that I'd let her band audition then inform her that her attitude with the owner cost her the gig."

"You are so evil; I think that we have been a very positive influence on you."

"Yes, yes I am and yes you have. Let's get back out there so I can watch these bands play, so far the five I've seen suck. There are three more today and another seven tomorrow. Then we have to audition dancers to go with the bands. Fun fun fun!" Ichigo and Grimmjow laughed as they walked back out to join the rest of the group again.

As soon as Grimmjow sat down Mila attached herself to his side again and proceeded to rub her hand over his thigh through the entire song the band on stage played. Right before the song ended four more women entered the club and made a beeline for Mila. Shinji looked at them for a moment before turning back to the band finishing on stage. "Okay, thank you for coming we'll be in touch after we finish auditioning all the bands that applied. "Turning his attention back to the five women he addressed them, "I am assuming you are Tia's Girls?" They all nodded and Shinji motioned them to the stage to set up.

Ichigo leaned into Shinji and told him he didn't need to pay particular attention to the band because they weren't getting the job. Shinji smirked, he had seen and heard the encounter earlier, and nodded his head. Grimmjow was having a hard time keeping his laughter in almost fell off of his stool when Mila started playing up to Shinji thinking he was the one in charge. As the girls got their equipment settled Nel walked in with Rangiku and Karin, Nel immediately launched herself at her brother and wrapped him in bone crushing hug. "Grimmy! I missed you so much! You were supposed to come over yesterday and stood me up!" Mila's head snapped up at the sound of Nel's childish squeal and glared at the busty green haired woman her man was currently hugging. Shinji had heard the story about what had happened when Nel had called only to be berated by Mila so he watched the woman closely.

Mila made a move toward the siblings with a look of pure murder on her face and Shinji intercepted, "You have about 30 seconds to begin or I'm going to skip over you all together, we have too many bands to see to waste time." Mila sent the blond man a weak glare, not wanting to offend the man she thought was her ticket to a great gig.

"Hi I am Mila Rose, this is Sung-Sun, Appache, Menoly, and Loly we are Tia's Girls." The band began to play and Shinji couldn't do anything but stare, dumbfounded. The sound was supposed to be a rock/hip hop fusion but came across as more of techno sound, while it wasn't bad it wasn't the sound they were looking for either. The song ended and they began to clear their instruments as they waited to hear from the men they had just played for. Shinji and Renji had their heads together talking for a minute; Shinji was telling him that Ichigo was nixing the band based on the lead singers attitude and rude behavior. Renji snickered and they turned to the waiting girls, Renji spoke first, "You sound pretty good as a Techno band, but the sound you claim to play isn't there."

"You have pretty good stage presence though," said Shinji as he looked like he was seriously contemplating if they were good enough to get the gig, "Hey boss man, what's your opinion?"

Mila looked at the blond man in confusion, boss man? Wasn't he the one in charge? If not who was? Her eyes grew to comical proportions as Ichigo stepped up to where Shinji and Renji were sitting. "I kind of like the sound but I'm gonna have to say no to the band. I can't have an employee working for me that shows such a blatant disregard for common courtesy and lacks even the most basic of manners. I'm sorry girls but after dealing with Mila earlier I am going to have to pass on hiring you."

Mila looked thunder struck, "You? Who are you exactly? I thought Starrk was the manager here and it's the blond guy that I scheduled this with."

"Oh that's right with your mouth running away with you I never did get to introduce myself to you, I am Kurosaki Ichigo owner of Kurosaki Clinic. Starrk is my floor manager, Shinji is my entertainment manager, but I am the final say in all things pertaining to my club. You won't get very far in life if you don't learn some basic people skills, you know that right?"

Mila was fuming as she turned to Grimmjow, "Grimmjow I want to leave now! I forbid you to try to work here for that child! And you need to let go of whoever that slut is you're wrapped around!"

"Slut?" Nel asked innocently, "Who me? You don't know me and you didn't know me when you answered Grimm's phone when he was on tour, so you have no right to call me any of the names that you did or are about to." Mila's eyes narrowed as she watched Grimmjow's arm tighten around the woman's waist.

Mila jumped off the stage intent on ripping the woman away from her man when a smaller dark haired girl stepped in front of her. Karin looked up at the woman and scowled, turning her head slightly she addressed Nel, "Nel is this woman bothering you?"

"No Karin she isn't. I'd have to care about what she has to say for her to really bother me." She turned to Shinji completely ignoring the fuming woman, "Isn't Grimmy up next?" she squealed when Shinji nodded. She pulled Grimmjow to his feet and shoved him toward the stage. As Grimmjow and the band set up Mila continued to glare at Nel and Karin who blocked her from approaching the green haired woman.

"Hey Mila," Grimmjow called, when she looked at him he smirked, "Have a seat I have a song for you." Mila smiled and sat down, almost bouncing in happiness until she heard the song.

**I've never been so happy to see a girl leave**

**Take your filthy little hands off my dirty ripped jeans**

**You told me you hated my G n R shirt**

**I should've known then**

**This was never gonna work**

**But like what ya like**

**It don't matter to me**

**Just leave the Jack and take your Hennessey**

**Take your Kanye out of my player please**

**That Zeppelin 45 is stayin with me**

**Hey ho**

**There ain't nothing LIL about rock and roll**

**Hey ho**

**Rap it up and hip hop down the road**

**Hell no**

**Don't turn down my radio**

**If you're a dirty little rocker baby**

**Come on and let it show scream hey ho!**

**You never liked any man song I wrote**

**You spent my money and smoked my smoke**

**Bumpin' lame ass beats in your foreign car**

**It ain't real music without guitar**

**I'm like Jimi Hendrix**

**Baby don't you know**

**I like getting high not ridin' low**

**You can wait in line at the club if you wanna**

**Shake your ass all night but I'm gonna**

**Find a rocker chick that I'll bang to nirvana **

**So yo…..ho…..you gotta go**

**Ain't nothing but a….hey ho**

**Never been so happy to see a girl leave**

**Take lil Wayne out of my player please**

**Should have never let you smoke my smoke**

**I like getting high not ridin' low**

**If you're a dirty little rocker baby**

**Come on and let it show scream hey ho**

Shinji and Renji were in love with the band, the sound was perfect and they looked incredible on stage. Ichigo sat at the bar watching his incredibly lazy best friend/crush on stage come alive playing the guitar. Ichigo was glad that everyone was sitting in front of him because he knew that he was drooling. He was finally ready to admit it he had fallen for his best friend.

Mila glared at everyone in the club as the song ended and watched Nel jump on Grimmjow again. Nel walked the blue haired man back to the bar to get a drink and Mila approached them.

"What the fuck Grimm? Was that song supposed to mean something?" the pissed woman demanded.

"Of course it has a meaning, Mila. It means that we are completely over, go away and leave me alone."

"So you dump me in front of everyone and what now your gonna go and start fuckin this bitch?" she motioned toward Nel.

"EWW! You are so nasty!" Nel exclaimed, "Do us all a favor keep your mouth shut until you get the facts. I'm Neliel, Grimmjow's sister. Now I do believe that my brother has made himself clear and you need to leave." Grimmjow grinned at his sister with pride.

Ichigo watched as Starrk took a seat next to him, "Hey Ichi, should I have her thrown out?"

"Yeah, before Nel goes off on her we should. Hey Karin, why don't you and Rangiku show Mila out? Nel come have a drink with us. It looks like the next band isn't here so they have lost their chance." Ichigo called out and Mila glared at the two women approaching her before she screamed and turned storming out on her own. Starrk leaned into Ichigo, placing his lips almost against his ear.

"So I'm off tonight and I would like to finish my orders and get out of here. You promised to help me." Ichigo shivered and slid off his stool to grab the paperwork from behind the bar.

'I am so screwed.' Ichigo thought to himself, 'If he keeps doing things like that I'm gonna jump him.'


	5. The Life

Chapter 4-The Life

**So this is the life they talked about, This is the I can't live without, When the real world crashes down, Oh if they could see me now, When all the dreams are all your own, Turn to nightmares all alone, It hits you right between the eyes, This is the life, This is the life**

Ichigo walked into his sister's house with a slight frown on his face. Starrk had been working full time at the club for almost a month now and his band playing every Friday for a few weeks now, but even though he saw him every day he felt like Starrk was pulling away from him. They still had dinner at the girl's house once a week but they barely hung out outside of that and work anymore. Ichigo was a little confused by his friend's withdrawal from him; he began to wonder if he had done something to upset the man.

Tonight was not the normal weekly dinner earlier that day Karin had cornered him in his office and demanded that he come to the house for dinner that night. With the fire that was burning behind her eyes Ichigo knew better than to refuse. So here he was taking his few hours of free time before he had to open the club to visit with his sisters.

"Ichigo you're here!" cried Yuzu when he came through the door, "Come in and sit down. We really need to talk to you; we are all worried about Starrk-kun." Ichigo looked at his sister's worried expression and sat down pulling her into a hug.

"Yuzu why are you worried about Starrk? He seems to be fine to me, I know that we've been busy and all lately but he seems ok."

"My brother is not ok," sneered Lily, her pink eyes blazing as she shot Ichigo an accusing glare, "And it's all your fault!"

"Lily calm down and sit down! You can't just jump on him like that, you know you're just gonna piss him off and then we'll get nowhere." Said Karin coming into the room and sitting down next to Ichigo. "Ichigo we think that Starrk is upset about something that has to do with you. Have you two been fighting or something?"

"No we haven't been fighting, in fact we haven't really been spending that much time together things have been so busy. Why do you think he's upset? He seems pretty normal to me."

"Ichigo you know how my brother is, he's a lazy bastard who would rather sleep all day than anything else, but lately he isn't sleeping. He calls me at all hours of the night and day claiming insomnia and loneliness. I almost feel bad enough to want to move back in with him but he's so busy with the club now he's never home. Besides I'm happy here and don't want to leave yet."

"I didn't know that he wasn't sleeping or that he's lonely. I'll try to talk to him and find out what's going on with him." Ichigo said his concern for the man showing clearly in his voice, "Oi why do you think it's my fault?"

"When he first came home he was so excited to see you, he's like that every time either you or him goes away. Then he started to work with you and he seemed like he was really loving life, he always had this stupid smile on his face. About a week ago I noticed that he was kinda down, the smile was gone and he started to get dark circles under his eyes. He came over to see me a few days ago and I got him to fall asleep by playing with his hair and he started talking in his sleep. He has never talked in his sleep before so I was curious and listened to him, he was dreaming about you. He kept saying your name and frowning. So I believe that whatever is wrong with my brother is all your doing. Now you need to fix whatever it is you did." Lily said.

"I'll do what I can but to tell you the truth he's been avoiding me outside of dinner here and work. I don't think I did anything to hurt him but I'll find out." Ichigo got up and hugged the girl's goodbye. As he drove to the club his mind agonized over what he could have done to his best friend to cause him to act like this.

When Ichigo got to work he didn't see Starrk's car in the lot and he started to worry, the man was never late and never missed work. When he entered the club he found Grimmjow sitting in his office waiting for him with a scowl on his face.

"Hey Grimm, what's up?"

"I wish I knew, Starrk called me earlier and had me come get his keys to the club, he said he's not feeling well and needed me to cover for him for awhile. When I got to his place he looked like shit man, I've never seen him look so bad. Has he been sick or something? You see him more than any of us d now."

"I haven't noticed if he was sick, our sisters are concerned too. They called me over to ask me if I knew what was wrong with him. I'll look into it and find out, in the mean time are you ok covering for him? I can get Shinji and Ikkaku to cover for a bit if I need to but it's so much easier with a designated manager. They won't let me cover the floor; I only get called out as a last resort."

Grimmjow smirked and chuckled, "Yeah berry I can cover for him for a few days. You just got to tell me what to do; I've never managed a club before."

"Thank you Grimmjow," Ichigo said, "Come on I'll take you to Shinji and he can explain what you'll have to do while you're covering. Since you're not covered on my insurance to handle the money I'll take care of getting the registers set up and the drops throughout the night. Just call me when ever one of the servers or bartenders calls for one. I'll see if I can get in touch with Starrk on the phone if not I'll swing by later."

Ichigo was really starting to worry, he'd called Starrk at least a dozen times and the man never answered or returned his calls. He stopped by after work but no one answered the door so he had gone home to a sleepless night spent worrying about the man. The next morning Ichigo went back to try to see the man again but again no answer at the door or on the phone. Now Ichigo was sitting in his office watching Grimmjow help set up for the third day, Shinji was taking care of setting up the registers while Ichigo lost himself in thought.

Last night Ichigo had had the strangest dream, he was running after Starrk but the harder he ran the further away he was. The entire time a voice was whispering, '_So this is the life that they talked about? When did all your dreams turn to nightmares? Here you are, the world crashing down and you're all alone." _Every time he opened his mouth to call to the man nothing came out. He could feel something inside him being torn to shreds as he watched the brunette getting further and further away. _"You're a coward."_

Now as Ichigo sat there staring out the mirror at nothing he could only agree with his dream voice he was a coward. He had finally admitted that he had fallen for his best friend a few weeks ago, but only to himself. He still hadn't come out and told anyone he was gay and that he was in love with the lazy bastard. Now he was afraid that it was too late and he might have lost any chance no matter how slim because he was a coward. He knew that Starrk was gay but the man had never really flirted with him until lately and that had Ichigo confused as well. Ichigo needed to talk to someone to help him figure things out, reaching for his phone he looked through his contacts until he found the number he wanted.

An hour later Ichigo looked up at the knock on his office door, "Come in." Grimmjow walked in followed by the man he had called to help him figure this shit out. "Hello Ulquiorra thank you for coming."

The pale man nodded and took a seat as Grimmjow headed back to the floor. "I don't know if I should be offended Ichigo, you gave Starrk and Grimmjow a job but haven't even offered me one." His tone of voice said he was serious but the twinkle in his eyes said otherwise.

"Uli I have the perfect job for you, how would you like to be my therapist for the night?"

Green eyes regarded him with such intensity it felt like he was looking straight into Ichigo's soul. After a moment the stoic man nodded his head, "What's wrong Ichigo? You seem like there is something weighing on you and it's tearing you apart." Ah, that's why he loved this man, straight to the point and willing to help his friend.

"You are the first person I am going to admit this to, but I have recently come to a realization. I am gay, I think I must have always been otherwise how could I honestly have been with a girl like Hime for six years and never been turned on by her?"

"I have always suspected that you were gay Ichigo, you never showed any desire for women but you had a few unconscious tells for men. I don't think you even noticed it but you would stare a little too long at other men's asses and you would blush uncontrollably if an attractive male took off his shirt or even spoke to you."

Ichigo scowled at his friend for a moment but decided it wasn't worth it to get upset over the observations of a close friend. "The thing is I kind think I'm in love with someone but I don't know what to do, I don't even know if he likes me."

"Ichigo, Starrk has been in love with you for a very long time, since high school at least though I suspect that he loved you from the day he met you."

Ichigo stared at his friend in shock, "Am I that obvious? How did you know it was Starrk?"

"I know you Ichigo, I can read all of your little tells and habits. I don't think anyone other than maybe Grimm is aware of this though, not even Starrk. That's the reason he's hiding away right now you know, he's hurting, the whole unrequited love thing."

"I've tried to talk to him; he won't answer my calls or his door. You know what forget that give me a second Uli." Ichigo snatched up his phone and called his sister's house. When he got a sleepy reply from Lily Ichigo took a deep breath, "Lily I need your key to Starrk's, he won't answer the door or the phone and I'm worried about him."

"Hm, sure Ichi. I'll leave it on the table by the door for you. I'm going back to sleep I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Thanks Lily."

"Uli, can I get another favor? Run over to my sisters and grab the key Lily is leaving on the table by the front door. When I close up tonight I'm gonna head over and kick some sense into him and tell him how I feel." Ulquiorra nodded and left to retrieve the key from the house. Ichigo was starting to feel better and actually felt like he could accomplish some of his work to pass the time until he the club closed.


	6. Waking U the Devil pt 1

**A/N: The verses of this song are mixed up to fit the part of the chapter that goes with each verse. **

Chapter 5- Waking Up the Devil pt 1

Even though Ichigo felt a lot better now that he had a plan in mind he was still agitated and feeling aggressive as all hell. He hated feeling like he had no control and that is what this entire situation with Starrk did to him, took away all of his control and left him in free fall. So when about an hour before the club was supposed to close he received a call from Grimmjow stating that he was needed immediately on the floor he found himself wearing a feral grin as he approached the group of men trying to start trouble.

**Wakin' up the devil, Rattlin' the cage inside of me, I miss him a little, When he gets out, we're one hell of a team, I know when I leave, He locks up and throw away the key, But his hand's on the wheel and my foot's on the pedal, Wakin' up the devil**

I didn't come here lookin' for a fight, But if you're gonna bark boy, you better have a bite, I ain't been crazy in a really long time, But you're about to need a good friend tonight

"What seems to be the problem here?" Ichigo asked as he walked up.

"This idiot tried to beat this perverts ass," Grimmjow said, "the pervert grabbed Rangiku's ass and the idiot tried to come to her rescue. However Pervert here has his buddies over there and idiot is all alone and was about to get jumped on by all seven of them. Nel got me to come break it up so me and Ikkaku came to deal with it but apparently one of Perverts friends over there called some other friends to show up here and help them out with the situation."

"So you think that my servers are here to be pawed at by creeps like you?" Ichigo asked the pervert, his voice still overly pleasant and calm. "I don't think so. I don't know who you called to come help you but you really might want to call them back and tell them not to bother, it will be better for your health if you just walk out right now."

"Oh really and who the hell are you kid, that you feel you can threaten me?" the dark man, 'Pervert', sneered moving closer to the smiling club owner.

"Oh, I'm sorry let me introduce myself, I am the owner of this establishment, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Not for long if I have anything to say about it, you don't know who you're dealing with. We run this town and do whatever we want, and no little kid is gonna stop me." The guy's phone rang and he tossed it to one of his friends to answer. ("Hey boss their here, the door man won't let them through") "You too afraid to let my guys in? Don't want to get your ass beat and your club burned down?"

Ichigo's eyebrows rose up and disappeared under his hair, "Grimm, please let our guests in." Grimmjow smirked and walked away shaking his head. This guy was looking to die, not only was Ichigo dangerous on his own if you looked into his family you found that he was still tied to the Yakuza through a "Uncle" that all of the boys shared. When Grimmjow got to the door he let out a laugh that could be heard over the music throughout the entire club.

Ichigo heard the laugh and couldn't help but laugh to himself, leave it to Grimmjow to find the situation so funny. Grimmjow stood at the door next to Yammy, one of the very large door men, and looked down at his "cousin" who was pulling Starrk and Ulquiorra into a three way bear hug. "Shit, they called you? Come on Ichi said to let you in so that the pervert can take him out and burn down the club." There were more than a few scoffs to be heard at that statement, most of the men gathered had been around when Ichigo had been trained in the art of combat. The group entered the club and leader pulled out his phone sending a quick message to the club owner.

"Hey all of you, no one knows Ichi. You let me play this my way or else I'll set him loose on who ever fucks it up for me." The leader told everyone.

"Hey I'm gonna stay back, he doesn't need me to distract him right now." Starrk told Ulquiorra. The pale man nodded and left his friend to make his way to the bar. He still had a good view of the action and could hear as long as they didn't whisper. Shinji and Renji noticed the commotion and the group that had just entered and decided to start clearing the bar a few minutes early.

"Oi pervert, what's your name any way? Unless you would prefer being called pervert." Ichigo asked as his agitation increased.

"Ryo. The name is Ryo. Hey boss glad you could make it." The man said as the group of men arrived.

"Ryo what is going on here? Why did you call us for this?"

"This kid says he owns the place and he and his goons are giving me a hard time just because I grabbed one of the waitress's asses."

"Oh yeah, which waitress? They got some real hot ones here."

"That one, the strawberry blond with the huge ass tits."

"Yeah she's a real cutie, but I would watch it I heard that she booby traps he cleavage." The leader of the gang laughed sounding deranged, the sound scaring the few customers that were lingering to scatter and leave the club.

"Yo Ichi clubs closed all the customers are gone!" yelled Renji as he walked back into the room. Ichigo turned and looked at Ryo, his face longer showing the laid back tolerance it did before.

"Alright Ryo, you said you were gonna teach me a lesson and burn down my club. Let's see what you got because honestly you don't look like your gonna be worth my time and I got somewhere I gotta be."

Ryo looked at Ichigo with rage burning in his eyes; he looked at his leader to get permission to do something about the man. His leader held up his hand and spoke to Ryo in a tone that said there would be no arguments, "Ryo if you want to take on this man I give you permission but it will be one on one. If anyone tries to interfere I will shoot them and I don't care whose side you're on. Kensei I want you to keep these fools back and Ulquiorra if you could keep them back."

"You know it's not fair don't you? Not telling them the truth before you allow this charade to go on." Said a deep voice from the entry way, everyone turned and saw a tall older man wearing a tatted trench coat and dark sunglasses.

"Aw, pop it was gonna be fun. Besides I told you before that Ryo needed to be put in his place and Ichigo looks like he could use a stress reliever. In my eyes it's a total win, win situation."

Ryo looked at the head of their branch of the Yakuza as he spoke to his son and realized that they apparently knew the guy he was getting ready to fight. "Shiro, what is going on? Who is this kid to you?"

"Ryo, I would watch calling him a kid. He's older than you, stronger than you, and a hell of a lot meaner than you." Zangetsu said addressing his subordinate, "However you are going to continue with this fight. You made threats against a member of my family and now you are honor bound to see it through."

Ichigo looked at the man who was starting to tremble and let out a laugh that was more deranged than Shiro's could ever be, Ryo paled and passed out.

"Alright Uncle Zan, you ruined my fun! Get this trash out of my club, his six buddies over there too. I don't want them back in my club for one year, oh and where's Gin?"

"Yes Ichi-kun you wanted me?" a silver haired man came forward his smile stretched across his entire face and his eyes seemingly closed.

"Go see to Rangiku, I think she might need you."

"Why would Rangiku need me? I allow her to work here because this place is owned and run by family."

"I guess the newer generation hasn't been properly informed that this place is off limits for any of their ruckus, if I have to I'll teach them the hard way. Now get the trouble makers out of here and the rest of you come have a drink, on me."

**Almost midnight, I'm just sittin' at the bar, You slide ride up, Whisper "I know who you are"**

And you want a little company tonight, You need a little love, I can give it to you right, Be careful what you wish for, If I'm gonna drive, girl it's gonna be one hell of a ride

Ichigo and Shiro tossed out the gang members that Ichigo banned and joined everyone at the bar. Gin was looking murderous and speaking quietly with Zangetsu while Grimmjow was helping to serve up drinks, Ichigo looked around before he took a seat at the bar thanking Grimmjow for the Jack and coke he was handed. A tall silver haired man with multiple piercings came over and sat next to him with Ulquiorra. As they began to talk Ichigo didn't notice Starrk sitting in the corner of the bar watching him and thinking.

_Two hours ago_

_Starrk growled when his phone rang he was going to ignore it until he noticed that it was Ulquiorra's ring tone._

"_Yeah Uli what's up?" he answered._

"_I'm outside open up or I'll come in on my own."_

_Starrk growled as he got up to open the door, "how were you gonna come in on your own?"_

"_I got the key from your sister, or more appropriately Ichigo got it from her and he asked me to run to his sisters to pick it up. You need to get dressed and come with me to the club. You and Ichigo need to talk and work this shit out."_

"_What is there to work out? He's straight and I need time to get my head back on straight."_

"_Ichigo came out of the closet today, he said that I'm the first person he's told. He has just figured out his sexuality for himself. He's still nervous and unsure of himself, mostly because he has found himself in a very new situation of being in love and physically attracted to someone for the first time ever. If you would pull your head out of your ass you would realize that it's you he's in love with. He is heading over hear when he closes the club tonight to confront you and he's scared as hell."_

_Starrk stared at his friend like he had suddenly announced he was really a woman. Uli had to be wrong, right? Ichigo loved him? Well the brat had been rather persistent trying to get a hold of him over the past three days; he had even asked Lily for the key since Starrk was avoiding him. He heaved a sigh and stood up, "Give me a minute to clean up." Ulquiorra nodded and sat back to wait feeling pleased with himself._

_While Starrk was in the shower he let himself dwell on the past two weeks, he had started distancing himself from Ichigo when he began to believe that Ichigo was never going to return his feelings. He had thought originally that being around Ichigo was going to be enough but eventually he realized that being near him and not being able to be with him was actually more painful than he could have ever imagined. By limiting his time with him to at the club and during weekly dinners things had gotten a little better. Then four days ago Starrk had walked into the club and found Ichigo wrapped in the arms of a tall pink haired woman, he had quickly left the club and reentered a few minutes later with Shinji when he arrived. Starrk greeted Ichigo and quickly went about his duties trying to ignore the bubbly woman hanging on Ichigo. Starrk still had no idea who the girl was he had been too afraid to ask in case he gave himself away. The next day he called Grimmjow and asked him to cover for him until he felt better, he had also talked to Ulquiorra a little that first day and told him he was suffering a broken heart. Starrk climbed out of the shower dried off and pulled on his favorite jeans and a tight fitting long sleeved t-shirt. He even put on the necklace that Ichigo had sent him from America, it was from the Cherokee Indians and was made out of wolves teeth, Ichigo had sent it and a piece of tanned hide that had the a story called Grandfather Tells etched into it. Starrk loved the necklace and it had made him almost giddy that Ichigo was thinking of him while he was in America._

_There was a knock on his bedroom door and Uli called out "We have to go, Grimm just sent a message there are some baby Yakuza tryin to make trouble at the club. As Grimm so eloquently put it he has had to wake the devil."_

"_Shit, let's go I'm ready." They had rushed to the club and ended up in a crushing embrace with Shiro. Things had quickly resolved themselves and now here they were._

Ulquiorra caught Starrk's eye and nodded to Ichigo with a look that clearly said stop hiding. Starrk got up and walked slowly to the bar stool on the other side of Ichigo and sat down. He leaned in close in order to speak in his ear, "Ichigo I know who you are." Ichigo jumped and turned around staring wide eyed at Starrk.

"Starrk! You're here, when did you get here? Why are you here? Why the hell have you been avoiding me, BAKA?" Ichigo yelled at the sheepish looking man.

"Can we talk in private?"

"My office now and it's too bad for you that I haven't been able to calm down yet." Starrk had the good grace to flinch and look remorseful at the same time causing the others at the bar to laugh. Ichigo stood and grabbed the man by the back of the neck shoving him along toward his office.

Shiro watched the two men walking away and turned to Ulquiorra, "So King has finally come out of the closet, huh?" Ulquiorra just smiled at the albino and turned back to his drink and conversation with Kensei.


	7. Waking Up the Devil pt 2

Chapter 6-Waking Up the Devil pt 2

**And you want a little company tonight, You need a little love, I can give it to you right, Be careful what you wish for, If I'm gonna drive, girl it's gonna be one hell of a ride**

Wakin' up the devil, Rattlin' the cage inside of me, I miss him a little, When he gets out, we're one hell of a team, I know when I leave, He locks up and throw away the key, But his hand's on the wheel and my foot's on the pedal, Wakin' up the devil

Ichigo closed the door and pushed Starrk down on the couch; he turned and looked at his old friend with a mild glare. "So I think you have some explaining to do, Starrk. You've been avoiding me and I don't like it."

Starrk looked at the floor with a forlorn expression, "I'm sorry Ichigo, I couldn't handle it anymore."

"Handle what?"

"Being around you all the time, everyday it felt like another part of me was being shredded apart."

"Why?"

"I knew that you couldn't feel the same way about me that I did about you."

"So you assumed that you could pinpoint my feelings without even asking me? So nice to know that you can see into my head, it saves a lot of unnecessary conversation. However, with your new found ability you were still wrong."

"Ichigo you have always been straight, not once have you ever given the slightest inclination that you might lean toward the same sex. You've been with Hime for six years, although now that I think about it, that relationship might have been a huge fuckin clue that you weren't straight. There's also the woman that you were wrapped around the other day, you two were very affectionate with each other."

"Baka, I never thought about being gay before but the more I thought about it recently the more I realized that I have always been. Orihime was always a good friend and when we started dating I never felt that there was a change in our relationship. If I was straight I would have been in her pants as often as possible. And what in the blue hell are you talking about? What woman?"

"Pink hair, tall, built like Nel only slightly smaller, bubbly."

"Yachiru! Oh man you are so off base with that one! Yachiru is like a cousin or sister to me. Do you remember Kenpachi Zaraki? He worked for my dad when the club first opened almost ten years ago. That is his daughter, she's 16, and I'm not dumb enough to try to date that psycho's kid even if I was straight."

Starrk laughed at Ichigo's expression as he stood up and walked over to where the smaller man was pacing. He reached out and grabbed him around the waist effectively halting the irritated movements. "Ichigo are you trying to tell me that I was wrong and you do feel something for me?"

Ichigo stared into deep blue-grey pools losing himself for moment before he smiled and wrapped a hand around the back of the taller mans neck pulling his head down. A moment before their lips connected Ichigo whispered, "I'm saying that I love you." Starrk's breath hitched as Ichigo sealed his lips against the brunettes slightly trembling ones. The kiss was soft and tentative a brief meeting of curious mouths, both inhaling sharply at the feel of each other. Starrk couldn't believe that Ichigo was kissing him, was touching him intimately, and had confessed that he was in love with him. This felt like a dream and he was afraid that if he moved he would wake up still alone and heartbroken. "Starrk look at me," Ichigo said against his lips forcing Starrk to open his eyes and look into Ichigo's molten brown pools shining with a million emotions; lust, desire, love, apprehension, and mostly fear. Fear of rejection, fear of what he was doing, and fear of alienating who he was with.

Starrk let this lips curve into a genuine smile, "Ichigo do you know how long I have wanted to do this, how many nights I dreamed of holding you in my arms and kissing you, touching you, loving you." Starrk tightened his arms around the trim waist pulling him in closer, dipping his head to capture Ichigo's lips again, this kiss deeper but still gentle and inquisitive. Ichigo sighed against the soft mouth he had been yearning to taste; his mind was swimming under the intense feelings flooding through him. Starrk pulled back slightly his warm breath stirring across Ichigo's face, "Come over and stay with me tonight." Starrk's voice came out deeper and husky causing Ichigo to shudder with desire while stiffening in apprehension at the same time. Starrk felt the tension in Ichigo's body and moved his hand to run soothingly up and down his back, "Ichigo I want you to stay with me tonight but we don't have to do anything that you don't want to. I'll wait for you to be ready to go any further; you set the pace for this. I've waited for you for since our freshmen year I can wait awhile longer, as long as you need."

Ichigo gave Starrk a tentative smile, "Alright Starrk I'll stay with you tonight but at my place, its closer and you already have everything you need there since you crashed there all the time and my place is closer anyhow."

"Okay Ichi that sounds good to me. We should probably get back out there before we have a bunch of perverts barging in on us." Ichigo nodded and leaned up giving Starrk a chaste kiss before leading them back down to the bar. As they entered the room all eye's turned toward them.

"Oi Ichi that was fast couldn't 'ave been very satisfying!" cackled Shiro causing Ichigo to blush deep red. Starrk smirked and wrapped his arm around Ichigo's waist planting a kiss on his temple.

"Alright alright, no picking on Ichi," Starrk laughed, turning to Ichigo he smiled, "Let's have a drink then close up and head home. It's getting late and I don't know about you but I have had a very long day. I want to go to sleep."

"You lazy bastard, that's all you ever do is sleep." Smirked Grimmjow. Starrk gave his signature lazy grin and took a drink of his beer and let his eyes drift shut. Ichigo who was talking to Zangetsu watched him and gave a small chuckle, he was tired and ready to leave himself and seeing how Starrk could so easily drift off no matter where he was always dumbfounded him. Zangetsu looked at the apparently sleeping man and gave a small smile before throwing an ice cube at him his smile growing impossibly wide as Starrk's hand shot up and caught it never once opening his eyes.

"He was always one of my best students despite his obviously lazy nature," the older man chuckled turning back to Ichigo. "So am I to understand that there is something between the two of you?"

"Um, yeah kinda…." Ichigo's voice trailed off mot sure what to say.

"Hm, your father and I always wondered when you would finally realize that you were gay. And if when you finally came out if you would notice Starrk-kun's love for you."

"WHAT? You and pop talked about me being gay? How is it that everyone else in the world seems to have known that I was gay before I did?"

"That is easy Ichigo, you never allow yourself to do anything for yourself. You dated Orihime because you thought it was the right thing to do, you found out that she had been in love with you for so long and was not able to move past it that you felt guilty and asked her out. You never showed her any affection other than what a brother might show, you never held any physical desire to be with her, and you never gave her the same lingering looks that you would to the occasional good looking man that crossed your path. If you had stopped and really thought about what you wanted for yourself you would have realized it sooner."

Ichigo scowled at the man in front of him and huffed out a sigh, Zangetsu was right he realized. He looked back on his life and saw that he was always looking out for everyone but himself. That was going to change starting tonight. Turning his gaze back to the sleeping man he felt something inside him surge, it felt like a beast rattling a cage demanding to get out. A smile slowly curved Ichigo's lips and those who were looking at the man paled at the predatory expression that replaced the normal scowl. No one had ever seen such a dangerous look on the normally introverted young man's face and they all shifted their attention to the unaware Starrk still sleeping peacefully. A collective shudder when through the room and the gathered friends and family began to take their leave. Ichigo said his good-byes and made his way over to Starrk. "I know your awake Starrk get up and let's go, you're not the only one who's tired. I haven't been able to sleep either since a certain asshole decided that he should avoid me instead of talk to me."

Starrk opened his eyes and gave a sheepish smile, getting to his feet he grabbed Ichigo's hips pulling him close, "I'm sorry." He whispered, "Let's get out of here we can talk some more on the way back to your place." The two men walked out of the club locking it up and climbing into Ichigo's car.

The ride home was short the time easily filled with easy conversation between the two men that had know each other most of their lives.

"Hey Starrk, why didn't you ever act on your feelings before?"

"You were in denial and with Orihime, I never thought you belonged with her but I am not a home wrecker either. And besides I was afraid that if you ever found out you would hate me."

"I would never hate you, I couldn't. You know that I found out you were gay in 7th grade?"

"I didn't tell you until we were sophomores in high school so how did you find out?"

"I was on my way home from school on one of the days that you had detention and I got jumped by that gang that was always trying to beat me up, you know the one's I'm talking about right? Yeah well they had me cornered in the alley when all of a sudden Chad showed up out of nowhere and he helped me out of a tight spot. That was one of the first times I saw him fight. Anyhow I went back to his place to clean up a little so I wouldn't cause Karin and Yuzu to worry too much and when I was on my way home I cut through the park and saw you and that boy Aaroniero sitting by the river kissing. I was a little socked at first and took off but by the time I got home I had already figured it out. You, my best friend who was like a brother to me, were gay and obviously had known it long enough to be comfortable with kissing another guy in public. So after a somewhat sleepless night I had decided that I was mad at you for not telling me that you were gay but didn't care that you were gay. I decided that I would wait for you to tell me about it instead of saying something to you because if you had kept it from me you must have had your reasons. When you finally came out to me I had already known for four years but I still acted like it was news to me."

"Wow, I didn't think that you had the ability to keep something like that to yourself back then. I was afraid to tell you because I was afraid you would hate me. I hid my sexuality from almost everyone; Zangetsu and Uli are the only ones I told. Uli is the one who introduced me to Aaron; he invited him over one day to study then conveniently disappeared shortly after we sat down. I dated him until my freshman year and our break up was pretty nasty. I caught him cheating on me with a man named Kaien, I was hurt and Uli was the only one who knew what was going on."

"I knew you two had split up and that you were taking it pretty hard, if you remember that was the same time that I had that massive 'falling out' with my dad and came to stay with you at Zan's for a few weeks. I told pop that you needed me but were too stubborn to ask for help so I was gonna con my way in saying that we had gotten into a fight. I know Zan saw through it but he never said a damn thing, he welcomed me into his house and I spent two weeks sleeping on your floor acting even more of a fool than usual. But after two weeks you were pretty much back to yourself and I knew that you were gonna be ok."

"Those two weeks are when I fell in love with you Ichigo. I realized that what I had with you was perfect and it was what I wanted in a relationship. Then I started to see you as more than a friend and I kinda panicked a little."

"I wish you would have talked to me sooner, it might have helped me see that I was ignoring my true self. I know why you didn't but now that I know it kinda feels like we've wasted so much time dancing around each other."

"I know, I feel that same way. I wish I could go back and change things."

"I don't."

"—"

"If you changed things we wouldn't be the same people we are right now, true we could have gotten together sooner but the people we were then wouldn't still be together now. I was too angry at the world, with mom dying and the bullies; and you were still trying to find your way for yourself and Lily. I think that even though we waited this long, well you waited I wasted my time with a lie, now is the time that we were meant to find each other."

"Hm," Starrk said looking at Ichigo in fascination, "Who knew that you were a romantic?"

"Screw you."

"If you want to."

Ichigo turned bright red; he wasn't sure how to deal with this perverted side of Starrk. He had to admit though the thought of sex with the sleep brown haired man had him tingling with anticipation. He had never felt like this before, sexually drawn to another person and it had him nervous and excited all at once. "Um…"

"Sorry Ichi, I'll try to cut back on the pervertedness that I can't seem to curb when you're around. I told you I will wait as long as you want but you need to know that I have wanted you for so long that it is gonna be hard to hold back now that I can actually touch, hold, and kiss you."

"*sigh* come on let's go inside we're here. I'm hungry and tired, let's get some food and get some rest." The two men spent the next hour reheating the left over's that Yuzu insisted on sending home with Ichigo every week and talking. Even though it was almost three in the morning Ichigo's phone started ringing. Ichigo dug in his pocket giving the phone a curious scowl when he looked at the ID.

"Moshi-moshi, Hisagi-san. Why are you calling so late?" Ichigo answered.

"Late? It's only six in the evening!" the man on the other line said.

"It's three in the morning here, baka! You're in England; there is a nine hour difference in our times! What do you want? I'm tired and want to get some sleep."

"Oh shit, sorry man I forgot that I've only been here for about a month. Anyhow, Oyabun wants to talk to you. Hold for him." There was a click and then some British pop band playing on the line.

Ichigo looked at his companion and quirked an eyebrow in confusion, "The old man's callin from England." He said and Starrk gave him a shocked look.

"Ichigo-kun," came a gravelly voice across the line, "I apologize for the time, I did not think that Hisagi-san would call you immediately when I told him I wished to speak to you. I hope we did not wake you."

"No Oya-san, I was still awake. What is it that I can do for you?"

"I am sending one of the shatei to Japan to train with Zangetsu-san and I was hoping you would also teach him the proper way to operate a successful club. He is set on opening one of his own here but he is impulsive and has much to learn before I will allow him to do so."

"I will do my best to teach him what I can, but I am still learning myself."

"I have been following the success of the club since you took over, considering your lack of experience; you are doing an amazing job. I have given this a lot of thought and feel that you are the right fit for this job, you are the same age but infinitely more responsible."

"The same age? May I inquire who you are sending?"

"Kon."

"Oya-san I don't think that I am the right person to work with him, the last time we were together for more than five minutes I put him in the hospital." Starrk quirked an eye, wondering who Ichigo was talking about.

"I am aware of your history that is part of the reason why I am sending him to you; he has a healthy fear of you now. That fear will ensure he is on his best behavior. He will be arriving in Tokyo in three days, Zangetsu will be picking him up and housing him, he will call you to schedule a time to meet with you to set up a working schedule to learn about running a club. I understand that you are uncomfortable with this but as you have inherited your father's title you do not have much of a choice. I expect to hear from you once a week with an update on his progress. Are we clear?"

"Hai, I'll wait to hear from him." Ichigo hung up the phone and heaved a massive sigh of frustration. "I'm going to bed; I'm tired and starting to get a headache." Ichigo stood up and made his way down the hall toward his room, Starrk got up to go to bed as well. Ichigo turned when he got to his bedroom doorway, looking at Starrk as he opened the door to the guest room, "What are you doing?"

Starrk looked up in confusion, "Going to bed?"

"I thought you wanted to stay with me tonight? If you sleep in there it's like nothing has changed, I don't want that. I want to sleep next to you tonight and I'm not sleeping in my own guest room to do it."

Starrk let a smile slip as he pulled the door to the guest room closed again and made his way down the hall to Ichigo's open door. He stopped short upon entering as he saw Ichigo stripping out of his cloths leaving only his tight black boxer briefs on. Starrk took time to drink in the beautiful body of the man before him. Ichigo was tall and thin, but not skinny. Starrk let his eyes travel down the graceful lines of his neck across broad shoulders, down the tone arms roped with lean muscle, to his well defined chest and sculpted abs, the tight underwear did very little to conceal the impressive bulge that sat at the apex of two of the most perfect long, lean, and sexy legs he had ever seen.

"Do you like what you see? You've been staring at me for a few minutes now." Ichigo said snapping Starrk out of his reverie.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. I never thought I'd get the chance to just be able to look at you like this, I have to admit that I really do like what I see."

Ichigo blushed but still walked over to stand in front for the slightly taller man, "Well I'm glad that you do, and now I think that I'm gonna crawl into bed. I would like you to join me but you have on far too many cloths." Ichigo said reaching up to start unbuttoning Starrk's shirt, slowly revealing the hard sculpted chest an inch at a time. Starrk let out a low moan as Ichigo's hands brushed against his bare skin as he parted the fabric of his shirt pushing it off his shoulders to puddle on the ground at his feet. Ichigo let his eyes drink in the perfectly molded torso as his hands reached for the button of his jeans only to be stopped by a firm grip.

"Ichigo," Starrk growled, "let me go to the other room and change. You don't know what you are doing to me right now."

Ichigo smirked as he leaned in closer to Starrk, "Why don't you tell me what I am doing to you."

Starrk let a low moan almost a wine, "Ichi, you have to stop before I can't. I promised that I wouldn't rush you but if you keep touching me like this I won't be able to stop myself. I've wanted you for so long and now here you are in front of me almost naked undressing me and it has me so hard I could pound a nail into concrete. So I'm asking again, let me go change in the other room. Let me calm myself before I come back in here and try to sleep next to you without molesting you."

Ichigo looked into the stormy eyes and bit his lip; Starrk's words had an unexpected effect on him. Knowing that the man was trying to keep his word and not rush him made Ichigo feel safe for some reason, knowing that he was willing to endure the pain of what was most likely going to be a nasty case of blue balls made him feel appreciated, and knowing that Starrk was trying his best to be upfront and honest no matter how embarrassing it might be made him feel respected. Above all else though, the thought of what Starrk said he was doing to him made him hard. The thought that he had this kind of effect on the man he loved made him want to keep going, made him bold, hell it made him want to let the man fuck him into the nearest surface until he couldn't walk. Ichigo let a slow smile stretch across his face as he took a step closer so only an inch separated their bodies, he watched Starrk's eyes grow wider as he gently pulled his hands free of the loose grip still holding them. Ichigo's hand came up to rest on Starrk's shoulders, slowly bringing them down to caress the smooth chest and abs. Ichigo paused as he heard Starrk's sharp inhale as his hands reached the waist of his jeans once again.

"Ichi…"

"Shh, just let me…."

"Are you sure?"

"I said shut up," Ichigo growled as he slowly began to lay wet open mouthed kisses along the strong column of neck that was presented to him, flicking his tongue out randomly and nipping every so often. Starrk could do nothing but get lost in the sensation that hot mouth was creating, he never noticed that Ichigo had undone is pants. Starrk was snapped out of his daze by the cool air hitting his overheated erection when Ichigo slid his pants down. Ichigo still kissing his way down the perfect chest pulled back with a cocked eyebrow, 'Hm so Starrk goes commando? Good to know for future reference, easy access.' Ichigo thought to himself as Starrk pulled him back up to his face using a hand fisted in the soft orange locks.

"Ichi, stop now," the brunette panted out, a look of almost desperation in his eyes mixed with pure lust.

Ichigo leaned in sealing their lips again for a brief kiss before pulling back and staring into swirling pools of steal grey, "I don't want to stop. I want to touch you, taste you, and feel every inch of you. I want you to teach me what I've been missing." As he spoke Ichigo's hands roamed Starrk's tensing body until one finally came to rest wrapped around his throbbing member.

With a feral growl Starrk's control snapped, he grabbed Ichigo lifting him by the backs of his thighs forcing the smaller man to wrap his legs around his waist, he slammed his lips into Ichigo's as he moved towards the bed. In one easy motion Ichigo was on his back with Starrk's hard body pressing down on him, the kiss never broken. As the need to breath became too much to ignore the two men's lips separated as they both gasped for air, Starrk moving to taste the skin over Ichigo's racing pulse point. His hands ghosting down until he reached the only thing separating him and Ichigo, the boxer briefs Ichigo still wore. Starrk trailed his mouth down Ichigo's body pulling off the offending underwear as he went until he came to Ichigo's very hard leaking member. Licking his lips Starrk swallowed Ichigo in one move before Ichigo could register what was happening. Ichigo's hips jerked up before Starrk could grab them and pin them to the mattress, swallowing around the large organ hitting the back of his throat Starrk began to slowly pull back, sucking hard on the up stroke before swirling his tongue around the head and tracing the pulsing vein on the down stroke. The sounds coming from Ichigo were enough to make Starrk mad with desire, reaching up he placed three fingers against Ichigo's mouth. When Ichigo didn't react Starrk pulled off of the thick member, "Get them wet Ichigo or tell me if you have lube." Ichigo pointed to his night stand blushing. With a large smile Starrk reached over and felt around inside the drawer until he pulled out a small bottle, popping the top he spread the gel over his fingers before returning to the slow torture of a blow job he had been giving. Ichigo lost himself in the sensation of the wet heat devouring him, not even feeling the long slicked finger rubbing around his tight opening until he felt the tip if it slip inside of him. The feeling wasn't bad, just strange. Starrk gave a particularly hard suck as he eased the finger the rest of the way in, slowly pulling back out before pushing in a little harder and deeper.

Ichigo squirmed at the invasion trying to get used to the feel of it, Starrk's finger never stopped moving as he searched with each thrust for something. After a minute a second finger was added causing Ichigo to wince slightly, there was no pain just a slight discomfort as he was stretched further, those fingers still questing for something. Ichigo could feel a knot forming in the pit of his stomach, pulling tighter as a searing heat burned through vein and settled in his groin; he was close so very close. "Starrk, god, Starrk I'm gonna…" Ichigo's barely coherent warning was cut off by a wave of blinding pleasure, "Oh god…..ple…Star…..MORE!" Starrk smirked as he aimed for the boys prostate again; loving the quivering mass of goo that Ichigo had turned into. Giving another hard thrust into Ichigo's spot and a strong swallow around Ichigo's pulsing erection Starrk was rewarded as Ichigo screamed out his release, milking every drop and swallowing Starrk finally added a third finger to the first two that had not relented their assault on Ichigo's prostate. Ichigo moaned as he was stretched and brought back to full hardness, reaching up to pull Starrk down into a heated kiss. "Please," Ichigo moaned into the man's mouth.

"Please what Ichigo? Tell me what you want."

"I need you, now! I want to feel you inside me, please."

Starrk slowly removed is fingers grabbing the discarded bottle and slicking his painfully erect cock. He looked into Ichigo's eyes one more time asking without words if it was really ok to keep going. Ichigo gave a slight nod and wrapped his legs around Starrk's waist. Starrk lined himself up with Ichigo's virgin entrance, "This might hurt Ichigo, but the pain will pass and I'll make sure you feel good." Ichigo nodded as he felt the tip of Starrk's large erection begin to push into him. Ichigo forced his muscles to relax making the initial entry go smoothly, once Starrk was buried to the hilt inside the hat velvety depths of his now lover he paused waiting for Ichigo to adjust. Much to his surprise Ichigo lifted his hips and tightened his legs forcing him to slip further into the willing body below him.

With a whimper Ichigo repeated the movement again, "Move damn it!"

Starrk was shocked; Ichigo had not taken any time to adjust before demanding that he move. Starrk pulled out slowly until only the head remained inside the boy before slowly pushing back in tearing moans from both men, pleasure from Starrk and frustrated pleasure from Ichigo. Ichigo felt the need to be fucked hard building in him; this slow shit wasn't cutting it. "Starrk…oh god….please…..h-harder!" Ichigo moaned out. Starrk was only too happy to oblige the breathy demand, picking up the pace as his hip slammed forward plunging him deeper into the blissful willing body of his Ichigo. Starrk set a brutal pace as Ichigo dissolved into a moaning writhing mess, his nails raking down his back causing him to bleed but he didn't care. Starrk felt his orgasm building and reached down in between their sweating bodies grasping Ichigo's neglected member and pumping it in time with his thrusts. Ichigo was in sensory overload, the hand working his dripping erection and the cock slamming into his prostate with every thrust quickly sent him plummeting over the edge as colors erupted in front of his eyes and his body jolted as his release shot between them, "STARRK!"

The sudden almost vice grip around him pulled Starrk into his own climax, with a an almost wolf like howl he came buried deep inside Ichigo as the smaller man's body milked him of everything he had. Exhausted he collapsed on top of the limp body below him, his weight resting on his forearms so he wouldn't crush Ichigo. As he regained his breathing he slowly eased himself out of his partner and rolled to the side pulling Ichigo into his arms. Ichigo moved in closer to the hard body laying his head on still heaving chest, his eye's beginning to drift shut and a smile on his face.

"You ok, Ichi?"

"Mmm, better than ok. Tired now." Came Ichigo's mumbled reply.

With a small chuckle Starrk pulled the blankets up over them, "Sleep then, we'll talk tomorrow." He lay there listening to Ichigo's breathing even out as sleep claimed him before he allowed himself to drift off as well.


	8. 2 Sides of Me

**A/N: I want to apologize for the delay, instead of whining about what went wrong I would rather tell you that I am very proud of my four year old daughter. She hacked my computer. Meaning she broke my seventeen character Japanese password (she only speaks English and Spanish), she re-formatted my bios, changed my language settings to Thai, removed all of my saved files, and removed my firewall. Three frustrated IT guys and two weeks later I have my computer back, am rewriting the newest chapters, and thinking about how much it will cost to send my little girl to MIT so I can start saving now. Now on with the story…**

Chapter 7-2 Sides of Me

Ichigo stood at the mirrored window of his office with his eye twitching in aggravation, the reason for it was the shatei that he had been tasked to teach. Right now Kon was down on the floor causing chaos among the staff and regulars, the reason for the chaos was Kon was virtually Ichigo's identical twin. Even though they were not related there were only subtle differences between the two men, Ichigo was taller and broader by a few inches and Kon was immature, obsessed with tits, and an avid prankster. Ichigo watched as Kon followed Nel around like a love sick fool threatening all of her regulars that were flirting with the buxom woman. Ichigo let out a growl as the intercom buzzed, with a final glare Ichigo turned to his desk.

"What?" he snapped.

"Hey, I ain't done shit to you so don't snap at me!" yelled Karin.

"Sorry, what's up?"

"Um you know that guy that Nel's been seeing? The tall one that Grimm's always with? Well Kon just went after him for grabbing Nel. I think you are about to have a nasty bar fight on your hands, dude thinks Kon is you."

"FUCK! Nnoitra should know that's not me!"

"He's pretty drunk, came in saying something about his family, I don't know but Starrk can't get him to calm down either. Hold on…..Hey Starrk said call Grimmjow and get your ass down here."

"On my way."

Ichigo dialed his blue haired friends number as he hurried to the floor, "Yo berry what's up?" came the gravel laced voice of Grimmjow.

"Hey get your ass to the club and coral Nnoitra, he's about to destroy my place."

"What the hell happened to cause him to flip?"

"Kon and his family apparently."

"FUCK! I'll be there is five tell the bouncers to let me in." The line went dead as Ichigo grabbed Ikkaku on his way.

"Hey tell Yammy that Grimm is on his way, let him through with no questions. Then clear the VIP room so I can try to coral this shit before it gets out of hand." Ikkaku nodded as he ran off to the door to talk to the very large door man.

Ichigo skid to a halt in front of a very pissed off Nnoitra who looked at him in confusion. Nel could be heard beside the irate man sighing in relief and Kon hid behind his double whimpering. "Ichigo and Ichigo? What the fuck man you 'ave a twin?" Nnoitra finally sneered.

Ichigo looked at the man currently drawn up to his almost seven foot height and glaring death at everyone near him, with a sigh he drew himself up, "Nnoi I want you to come with me to the VIP room, I don't need this shit on the floor. Starrk bring Kon along as well, I think that it's time we settled a few things about how he can and cannot behave." He walked away from the group leaving the others to follow him, Nel pushing Nnoitra ahead of her. Ichigo entered the posh VIP lounge as Ikkaku was still trying to evict the currant customers that were giving him a hard time. The bald man gave his boss an apologetic look turning back to the group of drunken patrons.

"Oi that's it, I've asked you to vacate this room nicely now I'll just have to show out." Ikkaku snarled taking a step toward them just as the door was flung open, slamming into the wall, and a very pissed Nnoitra stormed in followed by a wild looking blue haired man and a sleepy looking Starrk forcibly dragging Kon behind him. The inebriated men took a look around eyes growing wide as they took in the insanely tall one eyed Nnoitra who was currently threatening Grimmjow with extensive bodily harm and the blue haired Grimmjow who was growling and glaring at his friend. It was obvious that Grimmjow had come from the gym, he was wearing a black wife beater that was soaked in sweat turning it into a second skin, blue boxing shorts, both his hands and feet were taped and he wore his tennis shoes loose and untied with no socks. Starrk had Kon pinned to the wall holding the violently panicking man with one hand and looking like he was going to fall asleep the entire time.

Ignoring the customers Ichigo's voice rose above the din, "Everyone shut up and sit the fuck down!" His tone garnered no debate and everyone including the still shell shocked customers sat down. "Kon I don't know how many times I've had to tell you since you got here that you have to behave yourself, this is going to be the last time I talk to you about it before I call Oyabun and tell him you are unteachable and a disgrace to the family." Ichigo watched as his customers faces paled as they tried to edge out of the room full of what they figured was Yakuza, Ichigo gave Ikkaku a quick look and the bald man quickly rounded the five outsiders up and took them to Ichigo's office to wait for the orange haired man.

Nnoitra was glaring at Kon wondering how this idiot had come to be here, and if he was really sent by the old man. "Ichigo, this man is part of the family?"

"Yes unfortunately, jii-san sent him to be trained by Zangetsu and Shiro and has me trying to teach him how to run a club because this idiot thinks he can do it. Now Kon, I will give you the rules one more time, you are to follow me until I send you to follow Starrk, Ikkaku, Shinji, or Renji. You will listen to everything you are told to do and you will be on your best behavior. If you cause even one more disturbance I will hand you over to Nnoitra to dispose of. Now this includes how you will behave around women, you will not follow my staff around like a dog in heat, you will show them respect and abide by their wishes not to be hit on, same goes for my customers. If you fail to learn how to behave like a normal human around women I will have you sent to Retsu for sensitivity training." The men in the room all paled at the mention of the older woman, she was jii-san's on again off again lover and she was scarier than a room full of armed men.

"I'll do better, I promise just don't send me to that woman!" cried Kon.

"I think that I will leave you here with Nnoitra, Nel, and Grimmjow for the rest of the night or until they release you. Now I have to go deal with those drunken idiots who probably think that the Yakuza just killed someone in here." Ichigo snarled as he and Starrk walked out leaving a trembling Kon looking at the two larger men he had been forced to stay with.

Ichigo stormed into his office sending the now sober men scrambling to the far side of the room, "Sit down." Ichigo snapped and they rushed to the seats Ichigo indicated. "I don't care what you think you witnessed tonight, I don't care who you run your mouth to, but I want you to think about it before you do. If you saw what you think you did then you'd be really stupid to say anything but if you didn't see what you thought you did and you said you did you could get in trouble for filing a false report or if you avoid the authorities you might still draw the attention of other undesirable individuals who want to know what you saw and won't be as nice as me. Now get out." Ichigo watched the men rush out of the office and kept going until they were out the front door, he turned back to Ikkaku. "You got their names and shit right?"

"Of course, I used the scanner and got all their information. I'll send it to more discrete kyodai to have them taken care of."

"I want them watched for a bit; I don't need them showing up dead so soon after being seen in my club during a fight and running scared from my office. Ask Ukitake to handle it, I need to ensure they don't talk." Ikkaku nodded and left the room. Turning to Starrk who appeared to be asleep on the couch Ichigo let a small smile grace his face as he walked over to straddle the man's lap. A smirk spread across his face as Starrk's hands began to travel up Ichigo's back sliding under his shirt. Ichigo leaned in for a kiss when a loud knock suddenly sounded; Ichigo growled lowly before calling out, "Who is it?"

"Ichigo get off of Starrk I'm coming in," yelled Karin. Ichigo slid off of his comfortable perch on Starrk's lap to sit beside him as Karin walked in. "Ichigo there is a man at the bar who says he needs to speak to you, something about family business or some bull shit." Ichigo got up and Karin pointed him out through the mirror.

Ichigo looked over at Starrk as he joined them, "Hey isn't that the idiot from a few months ago? Ryo or something like that?" Starrk nodded and moved to sit back on the couch pulling out his phone. Ichigo heard his voice rumbling low as he talked to whoever he had called. Ichigo and Karin watched the man for a few more seconds before Ichigo looked at his sister, "Karin go ahead back to the bar, tell him I'm busy at the moment but he should wait I'll see him in just a bit." Karin nodded before leaving the office just as Starrk hung up his phone. "So what does Zan have to say about the guy?"

"How did you know I called him? Doesn't matter, Zan said that the kid is a punk already on his way out before he ever really had a chance to get in. he's been running his mouth about you and the club since the incident even though he was told by Zan to drop it and Shiro actually beat the shit out of him for saying he was gonna try to take you out. It seems that you have a problem on your hands dealing with that boy."

Ichigo sighed as he thought about what to do with the boy sitting at his bar, "I'm gonna have Karin send him up and see what he has to say, stick around." Ichigo called to the bar and watched Karin turn to speak to the surly looking boy, before he stood and made his way toward the back office. Starrk was sending a text message to the two men still in the VIP lounge before leaning back and closing his eyes apparently going back to sleep. There was a knock on the door before Ichigo had a chance to comment to his lover about being a lazy bastard. "Come."

Ryo entered the office and looked around noticing the sleeping man on the couch with a smirk. Turning to Ichigo again he glared at the orange head, "You know that you've caused me nothing but problems since I met you?"

"You brought your own shit down on your own head; I washed my hands of you when you walked out my door. You apparently are the one who couldn't drop it. You do know that coming after me is not a smart idea, don't you? Oyabun Yamamoto is not forgiving."

"You are mine, I don't care if you think your insignificant ass is important to the head of our family, I can guarantee it's not." Ryo said not noticing the office door sliding open and the three men entering. "You are full of shit, I researched the name Kurosaki and there has never been a Kurosaki in the family, so why would you think that the family will protect you?"

"He is protected because we said he is," growled out a very pissed looking Grimmjow. "None of us are members of Yamamoto's family."

Ryo looked at the men standing behind him and glared, "I figured that out for myself, I couldn't find any information on any of you freaks. Old man Zangetsu and his freak of a son are protecting you and I want to know why."

"Kon call Shu-chan and tell him what's going on, Starrk call the old perv and find out what he wants me to do, and Nnoi I need you and Grimm to go to the floor and make sure this fucktard didn't bring anyone with him to start shit. Ryo you might as well sit down because I won't be doing anything for a few minutes, I have rules that I follow in order to preserve disciple and honor. You should learn what discipline and honor is if you plan to embrace the life."

"Hey Ichi, Shuhei wants to talk to you," Kon said walking up to his double. Ichigo took the phone and stared at Ryo while he spoke briefly to the man on the other line. After a few comments and mumbled responses Ichigo hung up with a smirk on his face. He looked over as Starrk got up moving to speak quietly to Ichigo.

"Hey Urahara said that they are ready to move anytime you are just send word." Ichigo nodded and turned back to Ryo.

"You want me it looks like you have me. You will meet me tonight after hours," Ichigo scribbled on a piece of paper, "Meet me here at this time, I won't tell you to come alone because you don't possess the honor to face me like a man or the balls either. Now you and your friends will leave my club and not return." Ryo stood up and made a move toward Ichigo only to be stopped by Starrk and Kon, the two men removing the irate young man forcibly. A few moments later Karin came storming into the office.

"Ichigo you Idiot! Do you know who is down at the bar right now? Are you crazy getting involved further with THOSE people? I know that dad was with them forever but why do you have to join them?"

"Karin, you don't understand. It's a lot more complicated than you or Yuzu understand dad wasn't just a part of them; he was their leader, the head of their family. When he died his second stepped up but the title in all reality is mine now, I only have to step in and assume my position. You and Yuzu are also _in the family_ if only because you are dads children and my sisters. You can assume a more active role if you so choose but I would like you to live a normal life. I have been groomed for this since I was 12, this is the life I was destined to live. Now go back to the bar and do your job, I will be leaving you to close up tonight so that I can take care of this kid and his over inflated ego. Oh, who's at the bar?"

"That woman." Ichigo flinched as Karin stormed out. Ichigo followed behind her after a second to go great his guest.

"Yoruichi what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked as he reached the dark skinned woman.

She gave Ichigo a huge smile before she launched herself at him wrapping her arms around him in a death grip earning a glare from the dark haired girl behind the bar. "Ichigo how have you been?"

Ichigo wrestled out of the tight grip and escorted the woman away from his glaring sister and into his office. "I was sent to make sure that nothing happens before the time set. We have a lot of info on this Ryo kid and don't trust him. You do know that calling us in to help means that you've declared your intent to step into your roll finally."

"Yeah I know I've been talking it over with Starrk a lot lately and figured that it was time for me to do what dad has trained me for. You are aware that I plan to finish the integration of the late Aizen's men into the fold, it was something that dad was adamant about and I want to honor his wishes."

"We've been working with his lieutenants and they won't budge on the merger unless the heir assumes the throne." She said with a smirk and a mock bow.

"I'll have Starrk call them and arrange a meeting. Stay away from Karin and keep an eye on the place I'll meet you in a bit when it's time to go."

"I wish I knew why she was so hostile towards me," Yoruichi said looking at the smaller woman, "I don't think that I've ever done anything to her to deserve it."

"It's complicated so just drop it for now," Ichigo sighed.

"No I will not drop it, that girl has treated me like I killed her puppy for as long as I can remember."

"She thinks that you and dad had something going on right after mom died. She saw you coming out of his room the morning after mom's funeral. She refuses to believe that nothing happened, dad told me the entire story but he made me swear that I wouldn't tell the girls."

"Yeah I don't think the girls need to hear that your dad tried to kill himself," Yoruichi said sadly.

"Well for now go down to the floor, we'll be leaving soon. Send Starrk up if you could." Yoruichi nodded and made her way back out.

XOXOXOXOX

Ichigo looked at the group around him, finally settling on the blond haired man in front of him.

"So Ichi you are finally taking over?"

"Yeah Kisuke, I'm finally ready to step up into dad's shoes. Tonight is an annoyance but the kid needs to learn his place." Ichigo sighed. He watched Kisuke reach for a box and handed it to Ichigo.

"Well Ichigo I am proud to present you with the mask your father had made for you," Kisuke watched as Ichigo pulled out a white mask with red markings. "I am honored to serve under you as your second in command. Ichigo may I present your family, the Vizards." A large part of the group bowed.

"Thank you," Ichigo said sliding his mask on, "tonight we are joined by members of the Espada by my invitation. Soon I will enter into negotiations with Tousen-san to bring them into the family. We are all aware of the rules; no one is to know your identity. We are the masked soldiers those we face tonight are members of Yamamoto's family, even though we are under his employ. Be ready for anything, the kid has no honor."

XOXOXOXOX

Ichigo sat on a crate in the middle of the floor waiting for Ryo to arrive at the warehouse. The Vizards were already in place around the large space; their orders were to stay hidden unless otherwise instructed. If Ryo decided to face him one on one there would be no need for the others. Ichigo looked up at the sound of the door sliding open and watched Ryo enter followed by a dozen other young men, most looked no more than children. Ichigo stood as Ryo approached him with a smirk.

"So you came alone?" sneered Ryo, "You really are a fool."

"I gave you the chance to prove you have honor, by arriving with these men and armed you have shown me that there is no honor in you. This is a conflict between individuals and you choose to bring an army, I will answer your show of force with one of my own. You lead your men like lambs to the slaughter by not knowing your enemy."

"Okay carrot top when did you get all Zen? You will not walk out of here tonight I will personally end your life. Men subdue him." Ryo's men chuckled as they started to move forward.

Ichigo shook his head sadly and raised his hand halting the advancing men, "You had your chance." Ichigo reached behind him pulling his mask over his face, before the movement had a chance to register the menacing group found themselves at a clear disadvantage. The Vizards had moved out of hiding and had taken down the dozen men that Ryo brought with him. "Ryo you have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. Any last words?"

"What the hell! Who are you that you have the masked ones at your command?"

"So you know who we are?" Ryo nodded. "Good then you know that you will not leave here. You were given the chance to save yourself but ignored the orders of your elders and betters now you have two choices, die by my blade with honor or die by your own as a coward."

"I would rather go out fighting," Ryo said through clenched teeth. He knew he was fucked but he was going to go out fighting.

Ichigo smiled behind his mask as he moved into his fighting stance, "Then show me that you are worth an honorable end." Ryo watched the orange haired man move smoothly across the floor as he circled looking for an opening. Ichigo gave him none so he moved in slowly to try to catch him off guard. Ichigo blocked the fist that flew at him, swatting it away as if it was nothing more than a fly. Ryo tried to follow up with a round house kick, Ichigo let out a mirthless chuckle as he allowed the blow to land before wrapping his arm around his leg and backhanding Ryo across the face. Using his grip on the leg Ichigo hip threw Ryo to the ground before bringing his fist down to connect with the stunned man's face. Ichigo stood looking at the now unconscious man and growled.

"Kisuke, I want you to tie all of them up and have them left on Kuchiki's doorstep with a note, 'A gift of the dishonored from the masked army'. I'll call Zan and Oyabun Yama to let them know that we left them alive but judged and in Byakuya's hands."

"Very well Ichigo, I will do as you command. Tomorrow I will come by the club so we can talk."

"Very good, see you then. I am taking the Espada with me; until they are fully joined I will keep them from knowing the location of our family." Kisuke nodded and Ichigo left with Starrk, Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra.

Ichigo and Starrk fell through the front door still wrapped around each other, after the unsatisfactory fight earlier they both had some pent up aggression that they were more than willing to take out on each other's bodies.


End file.
